Football transfer rumours: Rooney to leave Everton? Allen set for Wolves?

Is Wayne Rooney set for a move to China or the United States?
Photograph: Darren Staples/Reuters

We bring you potentially big news regarding Liverpool, with assorted media outlets reporting that Zeljko “The Brain” Buvac has sensationally quit his role as Jürgen Klopp’s assistant after a 17-year partnership that began when the pair first met as players at German club Mainz. The Daily Record reports the pair had a falling-out that led to to Buvac being frozen out of team meetings, but the Guardian’s man on the Merseyside beat says the 56-year-old has left until the end of the season for personal reasons the club consider a private matter and remains a Liverpool employee.

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Elsewhere on Merseyside, Everton are planning a summer clear-out, that could result in Wayne Rooney being sold only one year after arriving from Old Trafford. Despite enjoying a reasonably bright start to his second stint at the club, the 32-year-old has failed to make much of an impression during an underwhelming season for the club that most fans would be happy to see consigned to the dustbin of history. Despite scoring 11 times since rejoining the club, Rooney has failed to trouble any scoreboard operators since before Christmas and could move to the US or China.

Stoke City midfielder and part-time chicken enthusiastJoe Allen may fly the Britannia Stadium coop and pitch up at Molyneux next season. Having secured promotion to the Premier League, Wolves are looking to add some steel to their midfield and are preparing a £20m bid for the Wales international. Celtic’s 20-year-old left-back Kieran Tierney is likely to be the subject of no end of transfer speculation this summer and is already being mentioned in conjunction with moves to Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and Bournemouth. Eddie Howe is ready to spend £20m on the three-times PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year and is hopeful the prospect of playing Premier League football week in and week out will convince him to move to the Vitality Stadium.

After being patronised to within an inch of his life in the wake of that “pity penalty” he scored to round off Crystal Palace’s 5-0 rout of Leicester on Saturday, Christian Benteke will discuss his future at Selhurst Park with club officials in the coming weeks. The Belgian striker’s self-confidence has bottomed out during a season in which he has scored only three goals in 29 appearances and, despite having two years left on his contract, may decide a change of scenery would be beneficial.

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On the subject of big, burley Belgians, despite speculation that Marouane Fellaini is ready to move elsewhere once his contract expires at Manchester United in June, José Mourinhoclaims the scorer of Sunday’s match-winning goal against Arsenal is close to agreeing a new deal that will keep him at Old Trafford.